What You Do Today Matters (or Random Acts of Kindness Month)

Typically, birthday month (never just a day!) is a big deal in my world. I have been known to drag the celebration out for the whole month! I plan a variety of things to do; lunch with friends, dinners out, tickets to a show, minimal work days – whatever I can arrange. Birthday month is the one time of the year that I feel justified to spoil myself.

Yet, this year feels different. This particular birthday is one of those monumental milestones. One that many people make a big deal about. And it’s such an ugly number, I cannot even say it. As this birthday came around, I found myself struggling with the age thing.

So. what am I going to do? I can’t wallow in self pity or regret because I’m getting older. It happens to the best of us. There is nothing anyone of us can do about it. And, it has never bothered me before. Why should I start now? A number does not define how we live our lives and who we are inside. I am healthy, active, and fit. That will not change anytime soon. 🙂 I feel young, I look young(ish), I act youthful.

What I decided to focus on, instead, was where do I go from here. How can I feel more impactful? How can I make a more of a difference? What can I do NOW to feel better about where I am in life and where I am headed from here? One of the best ways to make a shift into positive energy is to do something for someone else.

Therefore, in honor of birthday month, I decided to dedicate this month as What You Do Matters month… a month filled with random acts of kindness. Because what you do each day matters, in your life and in the lives of the people around you. You have no idea how one small act can positively impact another person’s life. So, every day, I kept in the forefront of my mind to do kind things for other people. Some things were preplanned, some things were spontaneous.

I’ve made a list, here, of the ideas we plan to do. Every day, I challenge you, too, to do a few acts of kindness of your own – use something from our list or comment below with what you came up with!

Spend an entire day smiling at everyone you see. Whether they smile back or not doesn’t matter, you’re still sending positivity!

Do a chore that your partner hates to do.

Put money in a vending machine.

Put $5 in an envelope and tape it somewhere in public for someone else to find.

Bake cookies for someone.

Hold the door open for a stranger, let them in first.

Write a letter to a relative and mail it.

Donate gently used clothes – instead of selling them.

Stop at a child’s lemonade stand.

Send a sweet message to a friend for no reason.

Leave quarters in a gumball machine.

Leave a nice comment on someone’s blog or IG post.

Give random compliments.

Help someone carrying a lot of stuff.

Spend one day only saying positive things about other people.

Stay off your phone while interacting with someone doing a service for you; like the bank teller, grocer, or barista.

Ask someone about their day without also sharing about yourself – let them be the focus.

Donate your time or service, volunteer at a shelter or do a service you can do for someone else.

Leave heads up pennies on the sidewalk.

Be kind to yourself, you are doing great!

What You Do Today Matters (or Random Acts of Kindness Month) was last modified: July 27th, 2017 by Carolin Leonard